Paper Communications Harder Hitting than the Internet?

Written By Ted Grigg

In the October 22nd, 2007 issue of DM News, Mike Maguire, CEO of Structural Graphics wrote in his article entitled “Integration of the senses” that he was surprised that 2006 saw direct mail spending increase by 7.5% and 2007 growing by nearly as much.

He further adds that the Direct Marketing Association reports that half of all Americans prefer to receive advertising by postal mail.

It makes you wonder how paper communication fares so well in the face of the online explosion.

He proposes that consumers use all of their senses with messaging including sight, sound, touch, scent and taste. And successful marketers use as many of these senses as possible to convey their stories and break through the clutter.

DMCG Results

Three-dimensional direct mail leverages the sense of touch to full advantage. Maguire quotes from a Time magazine advertising survey that 91% of readers recalled a dimensional advertisement versus 51% recalling a “flat” advertisement.

But I think there is something else that strengthens the impact of direct mail.

Due to it’s escalating cost, more demanding execution and relative rarity, direct mail appeals garner more attention from recipients than the same messages found in their crowded email inboxes. With the explosive growth of email, printed direct mail has now gained more respect among consumers.

In addition, direct mail is more intrusive than the Internet that relies 100% on the consumer to access the advertiser’s web site.

What are your thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of traditional channels versus online?

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

  • Are acquisition goals economically realistic?

  • Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?

  • Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?

  • Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?

  • Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?

  • Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com
Previous

BtoB Lead Generation That Works
Next

Should Branding Drive Direct Marketing Creative?